CASTELL-DWYRAN

"CASTEL-DAUYRAN (CASTELL-DWYRAN or DYRAM,) a chapelry, partly in the parish of KILMAENLLWYD, lower division of the hundred of DERRLYS, county of CARMARTHEN, partly in the hundred of DUNGLEDDY, county of PEMBROKE, SOUTH WALES, 4 1/2 miles (N.E.) from Narberth; containing 60 inhabitants. The living is a perpetual curacy, united to the rectory of Kilymaenllwyd. This place is supposed to have taken its name from a castle which anciently stood near the chapel, called
Castell Dwy Ran, and which formed part of the possessions held in equal portions by two sisters; but the castle has long since been demolished, and no vestige of it remains. " [From
A Topographical Dictionary of Wales (S. Lewis, 1844).]

Some church and chapel data from
The Religious census of 1851 : A Calendar of the returns relating to Wales, Vol 1, South Wales. Ed. by
I.G
Jones, & D. Williams. UWP,
Cardiff, 1976. The names are those of the informants

In the Western Mail April 2002:Village to be made whole once more, 170 years on; "170 years after it was first torn apart, St Dogmaels is to be made whole again. Traditionally belonging to Pembrokeshire, the village of St Dogmaels on the banks of the Teifi was split into two in 1832 when a chunk of it was taken out of Pembrokeshire and given to Cardiganshire. The National Assembly has now approved a Boundary Commission recommendation to unify the village within Pembrokeshire. Historically always part of Pembrokeshire- the river traditionally acted as the boundary marker between it and Cardiganshire-it was first divided up in 1832 for electoral reasons when a third of the village moved into Cardigan. Today there are 307 villagers living in the Cardigan section and 777 in Pembrokeshire. Villagers first asked to be reunified in 1885 and again in 1976 but were turned down.
The Boundary Commission has also decided to swap over 2200 hectares of land around Clunderwen, presently in Carmarthenshire, into Pembrokeshire."

Lloyd, Sir John E., (Ed.).
A History of Carmarthenshire (2 vols.), Cardiff, London Carmarthenshire Society (1935, 1939). With the kind permission of the publishers sundry extracts from this book can be accessed on some parish pages, see below for this parish

A discussion about the royal house of Dyfed refers to Aircol Lawhir (the long-handed) who lived c 500 AD and mentions his son, Vortiporius, one of the five tyrants held up to reprobation by the author of
De Excidio; he is "the worthless son of a good king", as Manasseh was of Hezekiah. ...............By a remarkable piece of good fortune the tombstone of this ruler has lately come to light. It originally stood near
Castell Dwyran church, in the centre of Dyfed, was then moved to Gwarmacwydd in the same region, and rests in the county museum at Carmarthen...................

Slight traces indicate the possible former existence of a hill fort with earthen ramparts at the following site...................Y Gaer, Ffynnon Brodyr,
Castell Dwyran.

A schedule of standing stones in the county shows the entry---Glanrhyd Farm Buildings,
Castell Dwyran.